VALPARAISO, Ind. – Junior libero Alexis Washington recorded a season-high 13 digs as Savannah State University drops the first match of the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic to Loyola 3-0 (25-7, 25-12, 25-21) on Friday night at the ARC.
 
Junior setter Caitlynn Masoe lead the team with six kills and with 11 assists and added a service ace, two digs and a block assist.  Senior outside hitter Christian Lyle recorded five kills, while junior middle blocker Gabrielle Nathaniel added three kills, three assists, five digs and a service ace. 
 
Loyola (6-2) scored the first five points of the match before the Lady Tigers scored two points to cut the lead to 5-2.  The Ramblers went on to outscore SSU 20-5 during the rest of the set to take an early 1-0 lead.  Masoe led the team with three kills, while Washington added six digs.
 
Early in the second set was close as neither team had more than a point lead.  With the score tied at five, Loyola scored the next 10 points to take a 15-5 lead and outscored SSU 10-7 during the rest of the set to take a 2-0 lead.  Masoe led the team with two kills and with three assists, while Washington added five digs.
 
The Lady Tigers scored the first two points of the third set for 2-0 lead.  With Loyola leading 10-7, the Lady Tigers battled back to tie the match at 12.  With the score tied at 16, the Ramblers outscored SSU 9-5 during the rest of the set to win the set and the match.  Lyle led the team with three kills, while Masoe added eight assists.
 
Loyola was led by Amanda Cushen with eight kills, Caroline Holt with 15 assists and Stephanie Kinane with 10 digs. 
 
The Lady Tigers are back in action at the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic on Saturday with a doubleheader against host Valparaiso at 12:30 p.m., on ESPN3, and Elon at 5:30 p.m.

Short Box Score (Match)
Loyola vs Savannah State (Sep 11, 2015 at Valparaiso, Ind.)
 
Loyola def. Savannah State 25-7,25-12,25-21
 
  Loyola (6-2) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Cushen, Amanda 8-1-0; Maciagowski,
  Gabi 6-0-2; Brown, Brittany 5-0-3; Hoffman, Haley 5-0-3; Gresham,
  Morgan 4-1-3; Kocken, Jackie 3-0-6; Holt, Caroline 0-4-0; Moser, Maddy
  0-1-0; Kinane, Stephanie 0-1-0; Totals 31-8-9.0. (Assists) - Holt,
  Caroline 15; Moser, Maddy 13. (Dig leaders) - Kinane, Stephanie 10;
  Gresham, Morgan 7
 
  Savannah State (0-9) (Kills-aces-blocks) - MASOE,Caitlynn 6-1-1;
  LYLE,Christian 5-0-2; NATHANIEL,Gabrielle 3-1-0; OFODILE,Chinenye
  2-0-0; JONES,Jademone 2-0-0; THOMAS,Zariya 1-0-1; LITTLEJOHN,Briana
  1-0-0; Totals 20-2-2.0. (Assists) - MASOE,Caitlynn 11. (Dig leaders) -
  WASHINGTON,Alexis 13; NATHANIEL,Gabrielle 5
 
  Site: Valparaiso, Ind. (ARC)
  Date: Sep 11, 2015   Attend: 94   Time: 1:00   
  Referees:
  Match three of the 2015 Popcorn Classic
 
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